The absence of alternative stable states in vegetation cover of northeastern India

Sarania, Bidyut and Guttal, Vishwesha and Tamma, Krishnapriya (2022) The absence of alternative stable states in vegetation cover of northeastern India. Royal Society Open Science, 9 (6). ISSN 2054-5703

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Abstract

Globally, forests and savannah are shown to be alternative stable states for intermediate rainfall regimes. This has implications for how these ecosystems respond to changing rainfall conditions. However, we know little about the occurrence of alternative stable states in forest ecosystems in India. In this study, we investigate the possibility of alternative stable states in the vegetation cover of northeastern India, which is a part of the Eastern Himalaya and the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspots. To do so, we construct the so-called state diagram, by plotting frequency distributions of vegetation cover as a function of mean annual precipitation (MAP). We use remotely sensed satellite data of the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) as a proxy for vegetation cover (at 1 km resolution). We find that EVI exhibits unimodal distribution across a wide range of MAP. Specifically, EVI increases monotonically in the range 1000–2000 mm of MAP, after which it plateaus. This range of MAP corresponds to the vegetation transitional zone (1200–3700 m), whereas MAP greater than 2000 mm covers the larger extent of the tropical forest (less than or equal to 1200 m) of northeast India. In other words, we find no evidence for alternative stable states in vegetation cover or forest states at coarser scales in northeast India.

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Sarania, Bidyut and Guttal, Vishwesha and Tamma, Krishnapriya
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Natural Sciences > Life sciences; biology Natural Sciences > Life sciences; biology > Ecology
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Arts and Sciences
Full Text Status:	Public
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7072
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211778

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